“… my tongue is the pen of a skillful writer.” – Psalm 45:1 (NIV) Recently people have been sending me messages about the power of words: daily reflections, quotes from famous authors on writing, snippets culled from scripture and literature and medicine. There is more and more clever, well written blog copy coming across […]
Even I am grateful for kittens. Adopt at the Jacksonville Humane Society 904-493-4567 Can We Be Grateful and Depressed? I don’t know what to believe. Can I feel depressed and grateful at the same time or not? I was leafing through some things on the internet this weekend and a Huffington Post Webinar came up called […]
The Dreadful, Wonderful Art of Tim Burton… I woke with a sense of dread. Does that ever happen to you? I ate a handful of chocolate chips last night (maybe more than a handful…) and when I opened my eyes this morning I thought, “I am a bad person. I am a chocolate chip guzzler. I am not […]
What lies beneath… Sharks have been in the news recently. There was an interview with a young man from his hospital bed in North Carolina, describing how it felt to have his arm chewed off. And drone photos of sharks in knee deep water… Sharks remain one of my biggest fears. If you have […]
Stars collide – from the Hubble telescope… A friend of mine sent me an email that began: We are all made of stardust. It sounds like a line from a poem, but there is some solid science behind this statement too: almost every element on Earth was formed at the heart of a star. […]
“I think of shit and then I write it down…” Crazy Eyes, Orange is the New Black I have never been to prison, but I watched the entire third season of Orange is the New Black in two sittings. It’s a little weird to watch a prison show when I somehow escaped going myself […]
Laura was sitting on the couch watching Orange is the New Black with Lauren and me, and there was an AA meeting scene (one of the inmates had gotten a little too dependent on her handmade moonshine). Laura turned to me and asked, “Why do you guys drink Club Soda? I mean is there a reason […]
I have to be honest. Part of the reason I got sober was vanity. My biggest concern was that I would end up looking like Kathleen Turner (what happened there?) and I was heading in that direction – lax and bloated, my hair lackluster… I didn’t develop that horrible, bourbon-baritone or wear round toed slipper-shoes on […]
I have a wise, pastor I communicate with by email occasionally. He is one of those people who can make scripture come alive for me. He’s a good storyteller – culling from daily life – and for me the message and the messenger must be affably joined or I yawn and pick up a People Magazine. I […]
In England, the old ladies call, “Cooee!” over the hedgerows in their gardens to borrow a cup of sugar or a plant cutting or the latest gossip. In Staniel Cay, business, monkey business and most of the important gab takes place on the “locals side” of the bar at the Yacht Club. In Flint, Michigan […]